Sid Vicious, born John Simon Ritchie, was an English musician and vocalist. He achieved fame as a member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, replacing Glen Matlock, who had fallen out of favour with the rest of the group. American expatriate Chrissie Hynde, before she formed the Pretenders, tried to convince Ritchie to join her in a sham marriage so she could get a work permit in the UK. John Lydon nicknamed Ritchie "Sid Vicious" after Lydon's pet hamster Sid.